[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1278-S1280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   BUDGET OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015--PM 32

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred jointly, pursuant to the order of January 
30, 1975 as modified by the order of April 11, 1986; to the Committees 
on Appropriations; and the Budget:

                  The Budget Message of the President

To the Congress of the United States:
  After 5 years of grit and determined effort, the United States is 
better positioned for the 21st Century than any other nation on Earth. 
We have created more than 8 million new jobs in the last 4 years and 
now have the lowest unemployment rate in over 5 years. Our housing 
market is rebounding. Our manufacturing sector is adding jobs for the 
first time since the 1990s. We now produce more oil at home than we buy 
from the rest of the world. We have cut our deficits by more than half 
since I took office. And for the first time in over a decade, business 
leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the 
world's number one place to invest; America is.
  We have made great progress, but we must do more to rebuild our 
economy on a new foundation for growth and prosperity. I believe that 
what unites the people of this Nation, regardless of race or region or 
party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in 
opportunity for all--the notion that if you work hard and take 
responsibility, you can get ahead. That belief has suffered some 
serious blows. Over more than three decades, even before the Great 
Recession hit, massive shifts in technology and global competition had 
eliminated good, middle class jobs and weakened the economic 
foundations that families depend on.
  Today, after 4 years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock 
prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done 
better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. 
Upward mobility remains stalled. Even in the midst of recovery, too 
many Americans are working more than ever just to get by--let alone get 
ahead. And too many still are not working at all.
  Our job is to reverse these trends. We need to return to an America 
where our success depends not on accident of birth, but on the strength 
of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. That is what drew our 
forebears here. Opportunity is who we are. And the defining project of 
our generation is to restore that promise. It will not happen right 
away. But we must continue to strive toward that goal.
  What I offer in this Budget is a set of concrete, practical proposals 
to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders 
of opportunity into the middle class--all while continuing to improve 
the Nation's long-run fiscal position.
  Earlier this year, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, 
the Congress produced an agreement that undid some of last year's 
severe cuts to priorities like education and research, infrastructure, 
and national security. Recognizing the importance of that bipartisan 
compromise, the Budget adheres to the spending levels agreed to by the 
Congress for fiscal year 2015. But there is clearly much more we can 
and should do to invest in areas like infrastructure, innovation, and 
education that will create jobs, economic growth, and opportunity. So I 
am including in my Budget a fully paid for Opportunity, Growth, and 
Security Initiative that provides the Congress a roadmap for how and 
where additional investments should be made in both domestic priorities 
and national security this year.
  We know where to start: the best measure of opportunity is access to 
a good job. With the economy picking up speed, companies say they 
intend to hire more people this year. And over half of big 
manufacturers say they are thinking of insourcing jobs from abroad.
  We need to make that decision easier for more companies. Both 
Democrats and Republicans have argued that our tax code is riddled with 
wasteful, complicated loopholes that make it harder to invest here and 
encourage companies to keep profits abroad. Last summer, I offered a 
proposal to couple business tax reform with critical investments in 
infrastructure. This Budget includes that proposal, using the 
transition revenue that will result from a shift to a simpler, more 
efficient tax code to create jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges and 
unclogging our commutes and transporting goods made in America--because 
in today's global economy, first-class jobs gravitate to first-class 
infrastructure. At the same time, this Budget lays out how my 
Administration will continue to act on our own to cut red tape and 
streamline the permitting process for key infrastructure projects, so 
we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible.
  We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the 
race for the next wave of high-tech manufacturing jobs. My 
Administration has already launched four hubs for high-tech 
manufacturing, where we have connected businesses to research 
universities that can help America lead the world in advanced 
technologies. The Budget expands on these efforts by providing funding 
for five additional institutes, and, through the Opportunity, Growth, 
and Security Initiative, supports the goal I announced last summer of 
creating a national network of 45 of these manufacturing innovation 
institutes over the next 10 years.
  We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own 
the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender. 
That is why the Budget includes investments in cutting-edge research 
and development, driving scientific and technological breakthroughs 
that will create jobs, improve lives, and open new opportunities for 
the American people. The Budget's Opportunity, Growth, and Security 
Initiative will allow us to push our limits even further, supporting 
additional biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health 
that will help us fight Alzheimer's, cancer, and other diseases, 
climate research to develop climate change-resilient infrastructure, 
and agricultural research that will help increase agricultural 
productivity and improve health.

[[Page S1279]]

  We also know that one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs 
back is our commitment to American energy. The all-of-the-above energy 
strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is 
closer to energy independence than we have been in decades.
  The Budget advances this strategy by ensuring the safe and 
responsible production of natural gas and cleaner electricity 
generation from fossil fuels. It creates new incentives to cut the 
amount of energy we waste in our cars, trucks, homes, and factories. It 
promotes clean energy with investments in technologies like solar and 
by expanding and making permanent the tax credit for the production of 
renewable energy. And it continues to strengthen protection of our air, 
water, land, and communities, and addresses the threat of climate 
change. Climate change is a fact, and we have to act with more urgency 
to address it because a changing climate is already harming western 
communities struggling with drought and coastal cities dealing with 
floods. That is why I directed my Administration to work with States, 
utilities, and others to set new standards on the amount of carbon 
pollution our power plants are allowed to dump into the air, and why 
this Budget advances new approaches to address the growing cost and 
damage from wildfires.
  All of these efforts can speed up growth and create more jobs. But in 
this rapidly changing economy, we have to make sure that every American 
has the skills to fill those jobs. The Budget therefore invests in new 
efforts to drive greater performance and innovation in workforce 
training, including on-the-job training, apprenticeships, and other 
steps to equip workers with skills that match the needs of employers.
  Of course, it is not enough to train today's workforce. We also have 
to prepare tomorrow's workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a 
world-class education. That is why the Budget builds on the progress we 
have made with new investments and initiatives to improve all levels of 
education, from early childhood through college.
  Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a 
child's life is high-quality early education. This year, we will invest 
in new partnerships with States and communities across the country to 
expand access to high-quality early education, and I am again calling 
on the Congress to make high-quality preschool available to every four-
year-old child. The Budget also includes funding to provide access to 
high-quality infant and toddler care for more than 100,000 children, 
and supports the extension and expansion of voluntary home visiting 
programs.
  Last year, I called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to 
connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the 
next 4 years. This year, the FCC is making a down payment on this goal 
by connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the 
next 2 years, without adding a dime to the deficit. To ensure students 
receive the full benefit of this connectivity, the Budget invests in 
training for teachers in hundreds of school districts across the 
country.
  The Budget also supports redesigning our high schools, helping them 
partner with colleges and employers that offer the college-level 
coursework and real-world skills to prepare students for college and 
careers. And it launches a new Race to the Top competition aimed at 
closing the achievement gap, so that all children get the high-quality 
education they need to succeed.
  And we are shaking up our system of higher education to encourage 
innovation, give parents more information, and reward colleges for 
improving quality and reducing costs, so that no middle class student 
is priced out of a college education. Last summer, I directed the 
Department of Education to develop and publish a new college rating 
system that will identify colleges that provide the best value to 
students and encourage all colleges to improve. The Budget supports the 
development of that rating system and provides bonuses to reward 
colleges that improve educational outcomes for Pell Grant recipients. 
And to help more Americans who feel trapped by student loan debt, the 
Budget expands income-driven repayment options, allowing millions the 
opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments at 10 percent of 
their income.
  We also must do more to ensure our economy honors the dignity of 
work, and that hard work pays off for all of our citizens. Americans 
overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full time should ever have 
to raise a family in poverty. I have already acted by Executive Order 
to require Federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees 
a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. The Congress needs to go 
further and raise the minimum wage for all workers to that same amount. 
This raise will help families, and it will help the economy by giving 
businesses customers with more money to spend and by boosting 
productivity and reducing turnover. The Budget also invests in 
enforcement efforts to make sure workers receive the wages and overtime 
they have earned.

  There are other steps we can take to help families make ends meet. 
Few policies are more effective at reducing inequality and helping 
families pull themselves up through hard work than the Earned Income 
Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC for families with children lifts millions 
out of poverty each year and helps about half of all parents at some 
point in their lives. But as a number of prominent policymakers, both 
progressive and conservative, have noted, the EITC does not do enough 
for single workers who do not have kids. The Budget doubles the value 
of the EITC for workers without children and non-custodial parents, and 
also makes it available to younger adult workers, so that it can 
encourage work in the crucial years at the beginning of a young 
person's career.
  We also need to do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, 
most workers do not have a pension. A Social Security check often is 
not enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the 
last 5 years, that does not improve retirement security for people who 
do not have retirement savings. That is why the Budget builds on my 
proposal to create a new way for working Americans to start saving for 
retirement: the MyRA savings bond. To encourage new savers, MyRA 
requires a low initial contribution and guarantees a decent return with 
no risk of losing what you put in. Separately, the Budget also proposes 
to establish automatic enrollment Individual Retirement Accounts, 
offering every American access to an automatic savings vehicle on the 
job.
  For decades, few things exposed hard-working families to economic 
hardship more than a broken health care system. With the enactment of 
the Affordable Care Act, we are in the process of fixing that. Already, 
because of the health reform law, more than 3 million Americans under 
the age of 26 have gained coverage under their parents' plans. More 
than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or 
Medicaid coverage. Because of this law, no American can ever again be 
dropped or denied coverage for a preexisting condition like asthma, 
back pain, or cancer. No woman can ever be charged more just because 
she is a woman. And we did all this while adding years to Medicare's 
finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat, and lowering prescription 
costs for millions of seniors. To continue this progress, the Budget 
fully funds the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
  We must always remember that economic growth and opportunity can only 
be achieved if America is safe and secure. At home, the Budget supports 
efforts to make our communities safer by reducing gun violence and 
reforming our criminal justice system.
  Looking beyond our borders, the Budget responsibly transitions from 
the completion of our military mission in Afghanistan in 2014 to 
political and security support for a unified Afghan government as it 
takes full responsibility for its own future. When I took office, 
nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, 
all our troops are out of Iraq and more than 60,000 of our troops have 
already come home from Afghanistan. With Afghan forces now in the lead 
for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. 
Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end 
of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over.
  In addition to responsibly winding down our operations in 
Afghanistan,

[[Page S1280]]

the Budget ensures we maintain ready, modern, and capable defense 
forces to address any threats we might face, including threats from 
terrorism and cyber attacks. It funds humanitarian and diplomatic 
efforts in Syria, supports transition and reform throughout the Middle 
East and North Africa, and advances our strategic rebalancing toward 
the Asia-Pacific region. It enhances stability and creates new markets 
for U.S. businesses with investments in Power Africa and promotes peace 
and security by supporting global health care and addressing climate 
change. And it strengthens oversight of intelligence activities and 
enhances the protection of U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel 
overseas.
  The Budget also ensures that we continue to meet our obligations to 
our troops and veterans who have given so much to our country. To 
deliver on this commitment, it provides significant resources to 
support veterans' medical care, help military families, assist soldiers 
transitioning to civilian life, reduce veterans' homelessness, and 
reduce the disability claims backlog so our veterans receive the 
benefits they have earned. It also introduces necessary reforms to our 
military compensation system, which our uniform military leadership 
called for, to ensure servicemembers and their families receive the 
benefits that they have earned while making sure that our military can 
invest in the training, equipment, and support that it needs.
  In addition to making these critical investments, the Budget outlines 
the steps my Administration is taking to create a 21st Century 
Government that is more efficient, effective, and supportive of 
economic growth. Our citizens and businesses expect their Government to 
provide the same level of service experienced in the private sector and 
we intend to deliver. The Budget includes initiatives that will lead to 
better, faster, and smarter services, both online and in-person. It 
calls on Federal agencies to share services and leverage the buying 
power of the Government to bring greater value and efficiency for 
taxpayer dollars. It continues to open Government data and research for 
public and private sector use to spur innovation and job creation. And 
it invests in the Government's most important resource, its workers, 
ensuring that we can attract and retain the best talent in the Federal 
workforce and foster a culture of excellence.
  The Budget does all of these things while further strengthening the 
Nation's long-term fiscal outlook. Over the last 5 years, we have cut 
the deficit in half as a share of the economy, experiencing the fastest 
period of deficit reduction since the demobilization following World 
War II. The Budget continues this progress, bringing deficits down as a 
share of the economy to below 2 percent by 2023 and putting debt as a 
share of the economy on a declining path.
  Although we have seen a notable and significant decline in health 
care spending growth over the last few years, in part due to the 
Affordable Care Act, we know that over the long run, the growth of 
health care costs continues to be our Nation's most pressing fiscal 
challenge. That is why the Budget builds on the savings and reforms in 
the health reform law with additional measures to strengthen Medicare 
and Medicaid and encourage high-quality and efficient health care.
  We also know that revenue has to be part of the solution to our 
Nation's long-term fiscal challenges. Given the aging of our population 
and the declining ratio of workers to retirees, we will need additional 
revenue to maintain our commitments to seniors while also making the 
investments that are needed to grow our economy and expand opportunity. 
The Budget secures that revenue through tax reform that reduces 
inefficient and unfair tax breaks and ensures that everyone, from Main 
Street to Wall Street, is paying their fair share.
  Finally, if we are serious about long-term, sustainable economic 
growth and deficit reduction, it is also time to heed the calls of 
business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement--
and fix our broken immigration system. Independent economists say 
immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by 
almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: when 
people come here to fulfill their dreams--to study, invent, and 
contribute to our culture--they make our country a more attractive 
place for businesses to locate and help create jobs for everyone. The 
Senate has acted to pass a bipartisan immigration reform bill that is 
worthy of support. It is time for the House of Representatives to 
finish the job.
  We have made progress over the last 5 years. But our work is not 
done. This Budget provides a roadmap to ensuring middle class families 
and those working to be a part of the middle class can feel secure in 
their jobs, homes, and budgets. To build real, lasting economic 
security, we also need to expand opportunity for all so every American 
can get ahead and have a shot at creating a better life for their kids.
  None of it is easy. America has never come easy. But if we work 
together, if we summon what is best in us, I know it is within our 
reach.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, March 4, 2014.

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